exorcise
verb /ˈeksɔːsaɪz/
/ˈeksɔːrsaɪz/
(also exorcize)
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they exorcise | /ˈeksɔːsaɪz/ /ˈeksɔːrsaɪz/ |
| he / she / it exorcises | /ˈeksɔːsaɪzɪz/ /ˈeksɔːrsaɪzɪz/ |
| past simple exorcised | /ˈeksɔːsaɪzd/ /ˈeksɔːrsaɪzd/ |
| past participle exorcised | /ˈeksɔːsaɪzd/ /ˈeksɔːrsaɪzd/ |
| -ing form exorcising | /ˈeksɔːsaɪzɪŋ/ /ˈeksɔːrsaɪzɪŋ/ |
- to make an evil spirit leave a place or somebody’s body by special prayers or magic
- exorcise something from somebody/something The ghost was exorcised from the house.
- exorcise somebody/something (of something) They said they were exorcising her of evil spirits.
- exorcise something (from something) (formal) to remove something that is bad or painful from your mind
- She had managed to exorcise these unhappy memories from her mind.
Word Originlate Middle English: from French exorciser or ecclesiastical Latin exorcizare, from Greek exorkizein, from ex- ‘out’ + horkos ‘oath’. The word originally meant ‘conjure up (an evil spirit)’; the current sense dates from the mid 16th cent.